Better Man
by alsdssg
Summary: Murtagh x Nasuada fic to the song Better Man by Pearl Jam.


Better Man

Disclaimer: I own neither the book nor the characters nor the song. Plus, the lyrics were found on google. If there is something wrong with them, it is their fault and they shall hang for it.

**Okay, this takes place about eight years after Galbatorix is killed. You might need to know that in this fic, Nasuada became the third rider, named her dragon Plamen, and married Orrin because it was a good political match. Also, Nasuada was captured by Galbatorix, and Murtagh let her go and gave her the green dragon egg. Finally, Murtagh survived the war, turned on Galbatorix's army after Eragon killed the king, and is now leader of the riders since Eragon left. One more thing: Murtagh and Nasuada fell in love while she was captured (or before), but he wasn't trusted at al then, and politics got in the way. Read the fic. You'll probably get most of this anyway from it. I just wanted to make it clear. **

_Waitin', watchin' the clock._

_It's four o'clock._

_It's got to stop. _

_Tell him, take no more, she practices her speech. _

Nasuada knocked on the door of Orrin's laboratory quietly. When no one answered, she knocked more loudly. Her husband opened the door.

"Nasuada, what is it?" he asked.

"I have to talk to you," she said. She'd memorized what she was going to say.

_You know what the problem with that whole idea is?_ Plamen asked.

_What? _Nasuada asked irritably.

_People don't ever say what you want them to say in a memorized speech,_ Plamen replied.

_When did you get so cynical?_ Nasuada parried.

_Around the same time you did. Galbatorix couldn't do this to you, but your own husband could. Or perhaps it was Murtagh. _

"What do you have to say?" Orrin asked again.

"I just wanted you to know that I know about Trianna," she said, cursing mentally. That wasn't how she'd planned to say it.

"What about Trianna?" Orrin asked.

_He always was a terrible liar,_ Nasuada sighed.

"The whole court knows," she yelled. "I've known for ages."

"Nasuada, I don't know what you're talking about," Orrin stuttered.

"I know Trianna is your mistress," she said.

"Nasuada, it's…" Orrin began.

"'It's not true?'" she asked. "Is that what you were going to say? I know it is."

"That's because it's not," Orrin protested weakly.

"I can smell her perfume on you," she muttered. This wasn't going as planned.

"Nasuada, what do you want me to do?" Orrin asked.

"Stop treating me as though I were an idiot! I'm your queen," she yelled.

Orrin put his hand over her mouth to quiet her.

"They'll hear you," he whispered.

"They know," she retorted.

"I've let you keep your power. You control part of the army. You have respect. You have the people's love. You can…"

"I can what?" Nasuada asked. "I won't take this much longer."

"And if you leave?" Orrin asked. "If the Varden and Surda are no longer united? We fought together during the war. The people won't like it if we part. It could mean war."

"Then give her up," Nasuada said.

"Nasuada, I don't have her," Orrin said.

"Look at me, and say it," Nasauda told him.

Orrin couldn't do it.

"That's what I thought," the queen said, turning on her heel and leaving.

_As he opens the door, she rolls over...  
Pretends to sleep as he looks her over_

Nasuada lay down on her bed and tried to fall asleep, but it wouldn't come. As she heard Orrin open the door, she shut her eyes and slowed her breathing. She felt his weight beside as he put a hand on her side and kissed her on the cheek. She could almost feel his eyes looking at her, something that he so rarely did anymore. She turned over and rolled away from him. He got up and left.

_She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man...  
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man...  
Can't find a better man  
Can't find a better man  
Ohh..._

_So,_ Plamen said, _will you finally leave him?_

_He's right,_ Nasuada mumbled, putting her head in her hands. _It could mean war if the Varden and Surda parted ways. _

_You could take the Varden to Alagaësia,_ Plamen suggested.

Nasuada shook her head. _That would go against the agreement that I made with Orrin when I first brought the Varden here. We had to stay joined._

_That's why you didn't marry Murtagh,_ Plamen said.

_It wouldn't have worked,_ Nasuada protested. _Besides, we're over each other._

_You barely see him,_ Plamen argued, _and when you, I'm surprised that you don't fall over like dogs in the heat. _

Nasuada bit her lip. She didn't go on as many missions with Eragon as Murtagh did, and she never went alone with him. But she was over him. She couldn't afford to not be.

_I still love Orrin,_ she said. _I still love him, and I will stay with him, and I will make him leave her. _

Plamen made a disgruntled sound and cut off their connection.

Nasuada lay there, concentrating on the sound of her own breathing until sleep found her at last. Her dreams were all jumbled together. Sometimes she saw Orrin with Trianna and other times it was a flash of red and then of black and then a feeling of lips against hers before it all slipped away.

_Talkin' to herself, there's no one else who needs to know...  
She tells herself, oh...  
Memories back when she was bold and strong  
And waiting for the world to come along...  
Swears she knew it, now she swears he's gone_

She was awoken in the morning by the sound of the door opening and two sets of footsteps coming through it. She looked up to see Eragon standing only a few feet from her bed.

"Eragon, what…" she began.

"We came here because we need your help with the pirates," the blue rider answered.

Nasuada winced. "The pirates?" she asked. "I thought that we'd gotten rid of them."

"So did we, what when they heard the tale of the woman who gave to a baby during battle," Murtagh said with a hint of amusement in his voice, which seemed to be coming only a few inches from her ear.

Nasuada almost smiled to herself. She remembered how she'd been eight months along when the pirates attacked Teirm, actually breaching the wall. She'd been nearby, on the royal progress with Roran and his queen, Katrina. All the riders had gone with them. She'd insisted on going on it, despite Orrin's, Farica's, and even Eragon's and Murtagh's protests about her own welfare and that of her baby's, and she'd been unable to stay out of the fighting once news of the attack had reached them, so she gone to Teirm and then gone into early labor halfway through the battle. Only the Plamen's quick flight and the presence of a healer had saved her and her daughter, Corinth, and she hadn't been able to rejoin the fighting, but the pirates had been terrified by the fact that even a pregnant woman could fight them so fiercely.

_What happened to that woman?_ Plamen asked.

_I just want to know what happened to Orrin,_ she said. She remembered how concerned he'd been, how he'd almost yelled at her for putting herself in danger, and ended up embracing her and the child and being overjoyed at everything. Eight years had changed him, and they'd changed her.

She turned to face Murtagh and almost gulped when she realized how close his face was to hers. He grinned at her and then frowned when he saw her crestfallen face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said quietly.

"Then get up," he said, pulling back her covers and then pulling her out of the bed. She collapsed against him as he began to tickle her, laughing in spite of herself.  
"Murtagh, this isn't decent," she protested while chortling.

"Nonsense. Eragon's here," Murtagh said, letting go of her none the less.

"The point is that we need to go," Eragon said, looking rather disconcerted. "I left a message for Orrin."

"Leave, and I'll get dressed," Nasuada told them. They did so, and she got ready as quickly as she could. She felt slightly better. She'd be doing something to get her mind off her problems.

_She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man..._

_Adventure,_ Plamen chanted. _We're going on an adventure. We're getting away from him. We're getting away from him. Adventure…_

_Are you going to keep doing that?_ Nasuada asked.

_We're going on an adventure. _

_I thought so. _

Plamen continued the chant throughout their entire flight to the tiny island of Nía, which had been recently discovered to be the pirates' hideout.

_How are we going to get on there without being seen?_ Nasuada asked. _It's so tiny. _

_We were going to hide out in Eoam on Beirland and then ambush it once we find out more,_ Eragon explained.

_Are you sure that that's a good idea? _Nasuada asked.

_There was a large ambush just a few days ago. The pirates will all be gathering there,_ Saphira explained.

_There was an ambush a few days ago?_ Nasuada asked.

_You mean Orrin didn't tell you?_ Thorn asked.

_You sent him a message?_ Nasuada asked.

_Murtagh sent him a message personally,_ Thorn said.

_You were at the palace?_ Nasuada asked, turning to Murtagh, who waited a few seconds before meeting her eyes.

_He told me that you were busy, and I didn't see the need to interrupt you,_ the red rider said simply.

_She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man..._

Nasuada remembered the time that she had taken Corinth riding a few days ago. That must have been when he'd visited the palace. She wished that she'd seen him still.

_She lies and says she still loves him, can't find a better man..._

_Oh wonderful,_ Plamen said. _He cheats on you, and he tells you nothing. Can't find a better man, can you? _

_He probably just forgot, _Nasuada said bitterly.

_Why do you defend him?_ Plamen asked.

_I'd go crazy if I didn't,_ Nasuada replied.

_You're bitter now,_ Plamen told her as the three dragons landed.

"My informant is in there," Murtagh told them both, pointing to a decrepit old building bearing the name of The Tilting Crane.

Almost the moment they entered the inn, they were waylaid by a tall young woman with hair so red that Nasuada was almost certain it was dyed. Well, to be more precise, Murtagh was waylaid, and she and Eragon were ignored.

_She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man..._

She tried to ignore Murtagh's whispering to the young woman. She tried to tell herself that they were simply discussing what they knew of the pirates. That grew very hard as the woman leaned closer and closer to Murtagh. He whispered something back to her that made a look of disappointment cross her face, and she said, "Well, I guess I'll be getting you all some drinks. What'll you have?"

She sauntered over to Eragon and took his order first. Nasuada was somewhat amused by the fact that she took Murtagh's last.

"Someone's feeling spurned?" Nasuada teased Murtagh quietly as they were seated.

"I think that several people here are actually," the red rider said cryptically. "Coralee's not the only one."

_Can't find a better man  
Can't find a better man  
Yeah..._

"Coralee?" Nasuada asked. Murtagh inclined his head towards the woman, who was now hanging off on Eragon, who looked rather pleased by the attention. Nasuada smiled a bit. Maybe he was finally getting over Arya. That was good. Eragon was a good man, but he wasn't right for the elfin princess. This Coralee probably couldn't find a better man except for…No, she wouldn't think it.

At last, Coralee tore herself away from Eragon to get them their drinks. Murtagh muttered something to Eragon, and Nasuada knew that she probably wouldn't want to hear what he said. He then turned and looked at her. He didn't say anything though. He just stared, as though he were trying to figure something out. Once she would have asked him what he was looking for or at, but she didn't.

Coralee brought them their drinks, and Nasuada drank hers more gratefully than she'd ever drunken anything.

"Helps, doesn't it?" Murtagh asked, taking a sip from his own tankard. "Makes you forget your troubles just a bit."  
"That it does," Nasuada agreed dully. "Cheers." With that, she, Eragon, and Murtagh clinked glasses.

When the next round of drinks was brought out, Eragon disappeared with Coralee, and Murtagh and Nasuada were left at the table alone.

"So, how are you doing?" Nasuada asked Murtagh. The drink had made her a bit more talkative.

"Fine," he said. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," she said after a long pause.

"Are you?" he asked, staring at her.

"I am," she insisted.

"Nasuada, I'm not stupid, and neither are you," Murtagh said. "The entire court is talking about what your husband does when you're not around, and you can't not know about it."

"I do know about it," Nasuada said, taking a long sip of her drink. "He won't admit it. He thinks that nobody knows. I told him that I knew, and he denied. He didn't even the have the guts to fess up."

She had begun laugh when during the first sentence. On the fourth one she had begun to cry, and on the last one, she had raised her voice a bit. By the time she was done, she was crying. Only a few people were sober enough to pay her any mind, but Murtagh did. He shifted closer to her, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest and ultimately into his lap. He ran a hand through her hair soothingly as she cried.

"Leave him," he told her. "If he keeps doing this to you, leave him."

"I can't. It goes against the agreement. The Varden and Surda are supposed to stay united," she said.

"You don't have to stay married for that," he told her.

"He says that I do," she murmured, leaning into him even more.

"You're the leader of the Varden. You're a dragon rider. You have Eragon as your friend. You have me," Murtagh told her. "Why do you to listen to him?"

She pulled away and shook her head. "Just let me go to bed, Murtagh." She walked over to the bar and paid the bartender for a room.

She didn't hear the footsteps behind her as she climbed the stairs. She stumbled a bit, and somebody caught her.

"You need to be more careful," Murtagh whispered into her ear.

"Just let me be," she told him as she shoved her key into a lock and seethed in frustration when it wouldn't turn.

"Wrong room," Murtagh told her, taking the key from her and guiding her down the hall. He let them both in the room. Nasuada tried to go to the bed, but Murtagh kept hold of her.

He put both his hands on her shoulders and asked, "Why are you letting him do this to you? He's breaking you apart. You're too strong to let him keep doing this."

"I'm strong enough to keep going," Nasuada said, shaking her head. "I just feel weak tonight."

"He's an idiot, you know. He has you, and that's not enough for him," Murtagh said. His hands slid from her shoulders and down her arms, stopping at her hands.

"We said that we wouldn't do this anymore," Nasuada protested, trying to pull away.

Murtagh's arms snaked around her waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his lips against hers lightly.

"One," he muttered before he leaned into kiss her again, this time with a little bit more passion. "Two." She kissed back this time. "Three." His tongue flicked against her lips, and she granted him access. He did this eight times in all before he stopped and leaned his forehead against hers. "Eight years," he whispered. "That's how long it's been since that night in Galbatorix's castle when I kept from one of the men who would have hurt you and let you go."

_She loved him, yeah_

She did remember it. It had been the night that she'd lost her virginity to him. Orrin had assumed that she'd been violated during her captivity and simply didn't wish to discuss it. He never noticed anything between her and Murtagh. He never noticed anything.

"We said that we wouldn't do anything like that again," Nasuada protested. "I'm married to him."

"Then leave him," Murtagh said. "He keeps hurting you."

"He didn't use to," Nasuada said.

Murtagh threw his hands up in the air and laughed bitterly.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked him coldly. "Does this amuse you?"

"No, it doesn't," Murtagh said. "It doesn't amuse me at all. In fact, if I don't laugh, I don't know what I'll do."

"How do you think I feel then?" Nasauda asked. "You don't have to live with him."

"No," Murtagh agreed. "I have to live knowing that you're living with him."

"What about Coralee?" Nasuada said.

"Eight years is a long time," was his response.

"I know," she said.

Murtagh put his hand on her chin. "Do you love him?"

She wanted to say, "Yes," to stop this madness, but as she looked into Murtagh's eyes, she found herself saying, "No."

"Then what do you have?" he asked her.

"Corinth," she said. Yes, Corinth. Corinth who was seven. Corinth who was born so shortly after her marriage. Corinth who was…whose was she?

"He can't take her from you," Murtagh said. He leaned in to kiss her again. "You have Eragon and me on your side. You have Plamen, Thorn, and Saphira. You have yourself. You have the treaty. Marriage was recommended, not mandatory. I read it myself."

"I wish that I'd thought of that," Nasuada said bitterly. She remembered Jörmundur and the other members of the Council of Elders telling her that she needed to marry him. She remembered how she'd tried to insist that she didn't need to and almost succeeding. Then she remembered realizing her pregnancy and deciding to marry Orrin because Murtagh was still under Galbatorix's control. She remembered Murtagh coming to the Varden having been captured by Eragon who managed to free him a day after her wedding. She shook her head and said, "I've been a fool."

She then leaned up to kiss Murtagh, her arms encircling his neck. He seemed surprised by her boldness but quickly responded flicking his tongue across her lips and tightening his grip on her waist. She opened her mouth, and Murtagh's tongue began to explore her mouth. She was almost surprised to find herself responding to his attempts to get her tongue to play with his. They stood there for a moment, each fighting for dominance of the other's mouth.

Murtagh's hand went to the lacings at the back of her shirt, and he soon had it untied. She pulled away just enough to allow him to take it off and to get some air.

He pulled her in for another kiss, and this time, she felt her hands going to the bottom of his tunic, pulling it up and stroking the bare flesh beneath it. He moaned into her mouth and dragged her away from the wall, guiding her to the bed. As he sat her down, he pulled off his shirt and pulled her towards him for yet another kiss. Her arms encircled his neck, and then moved lower, to the bare skin of his back. She touched his scar lightly, running fingers over it. He gasped, moving his lips from her mouth to her cheek, then her jaw, and then her neck. She moaned, throwing her head back and threading her fingers into his hair.

His mouth moved to her bare shoulders and then even lower. As his lips moved lower, Nasuada felt herself being lowered onto her back.

"With your permission," he said as his kisses reached the top of her breast band. She arched herself off the bed in response…

_She loved him, yeah... she don't want to leave this way  
She feeds him, yeah... that's why she'll be back again_

When the morning light awoke them, Nasuada found her head resting against Murtagh's bare chest with his arm draped around his waist. She still loved him, and she knew now that she needed him. She'd known for almost a decade, but she hadn't admitted it. She kissed him lightly on the chest and promised, "I won't leave you again."

Murtagh opened his eyes and looked down at her. "Will you leave him?"

Nasuada paused and thought. "I shouldn't have expected him to love me, you know. I married him, and I was good to him, but I've deceived him."  
"How?" Murtagh asked.

"He thinks that Corinth's his for one. He doesn't know that I loved you for two," Nasuada said. She looked at her wedding band and shook her head. "I shouldn't have married him, and he shouldn't have asked me." She removed the ring and threw it across the room.

_So you've finally chosen the right man,_ Plamen said.

_Can't find a better man  
Can't find a better man  
Can't find a better man  
Can't find a better... man..._

Review if you liked it. Review if you thought it sucked. Review if you thought it was somewhere in between. In short review.


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